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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 28 Sep. - 4 Oct. 2000 Issue No. 501 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 28 Sep. - 4 Oct. 2000 Issue No. 501
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Pliant players
In the men's competition, Russia's Alexei Nemov won the men's all-round gymnastics title, claiming the gold medal that narrowly eluded him in Atlanta. Nemov, who had to settle for the silver behind Li Xiaoshuang by a wafer-thin .049 of a point four years ago, grabbed the lead on the opening apparatus and never let go, finishing with a total of 58.474. The 24-year-old Russian, known as Sexy Alexei to his legions of female fans, produced a performance as solid as his chiselled physique, recording top marks in three of the six events and second best on another. "I just have to thank everyone who supported me," said Nemov, after receiving his seventh Olympic medal and third gold. "I don't believe this has happened to me. I was expecting it but I don't believe it. The most difficult part of the competition was the start. I felt I could fall at any time."Yang Wei, who helped China to its first Olympic gold medal in the team event, added a silver to his total with 58.361 while European all-round champion Alexander Beresh of the Ukraine took the bronze with 58.212. It was a bitter evening for two-time world champion Ivan Ivankov of Belarus, who missed the Atlanta Games when he tore his Achilles tendon just before the opening ceremony. Ivankov, who featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated's Olympic edition painted in gold, arrived in Sydney as the joint favourite in the all-round alongside Nemov, his friend and former teammate on the Russian junior team before the Soviet Union's break-up. But while Nemov celebrated, Ivankov fell into his coach's arms, burying his head into his shoulder. "It was my best effort, all that I could do," Ivankov said. "I do not really feel I lost, it's sport. I won't give up, there's still the apparatus final."
In the women's event, Romania sneaked through and stole the team gold medal while Russia and China self-destructed. World champions Romania marched through the four events in tidy, workmanlike fashion then watched from the sidelines to see if their score of 154.608 would be good enough to give them their first Olympic title since 1984. It was. Romania became just the second country to sweep the event and first since the Soviet Union in 1960.
Gold medallist Russian Alexei Nemov on the horizontal bar
Andrea Raducan, was stripped of her all-round gold medal after testing positive Russia and China, alone on the stage, committed a series of costly errors knocking themselves off the top of the podium. Russia, who dominated the team event as the Soviet Union, winning 10 Olympic titles, staged a late rally on their final rotation, the floor exercise, to take silver for the second successive Olympics with 154.403. China, who has never won an Olympic team title, equalled their best ever result taking bronze, with 154.008. Defending gold medallists the United States, which captured the title in a dramatic fashion in Atlanta, failed to make a podium appearance this time, finishing fourth.
The Romanians displayed depth and consistency throughout their lineup that the other teams were unable to match. Leading the way was Andrea Raducan, who finished with the top overall mark, followed by Maria Olaru, the overall world champion, in third and retiring Simona Amanar fourth. "I was happy I was part of this big effort to win a gold medal," said Amanar, the winner of four medals at the 1996 Olympics, including gold in the vault. "It was my duty to help the Romanian team." Russia, who dominated qualifying stages and looked poised to reclaim the title they surrendered to the Americans four years ago, began strongly, scoring solid marks on the vault. But any hope of reclaiming the gold medal disappeared when Svetlana Khorkina, the team's star and leader, lost her grip and crashed to the mat on her signature event, the asymmetric bars.
The reigning Olympic, world and European champion on the apparatus, Khorkina was unable to hold the high bar as she executed a move invented and named after her. "I wasn't shocked," said Khorkina. "I don't want to talk about things I think about." The miscue triggered a crisis of confidence among Khorkina's teammates as they moved over to the next apparatus. Elena Zamolodtchikova and Ekaterina Lobazniouk both fell off the beam, putting Russia deeper into a hole. China, however, failed to capitalise on the Russians' misfortune, committing errors of their own on the floor and vault. A disconsolate Khorkina, who was blamed for Russia's failure to bring home the gold medal from last year's world championships when she tumbled off the balance beam, attempted to pull her team back, scoring the evening's highest mark on the floor. "The team was prepared very well and we were expecting gold," said Russian coach Leonid Arkaev. "We got very low scores on the beam which put the team down but a good performance on the floor brought us back."
The Romanians were made to wait for their victory after some gymnasts were allowed to repeat vaults because of faulty apparatus settings. Raducan, the first Romanian to claim the all-round title since Nadia Comaneci in 1976, posted a winning mark of 38.893. With the normal competition finished and the Romanians waiting impatiently to celebrate their victory, International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) officials gave the 18 gymnasts from the first two rotations the opportunity to redo their vaults after it was discovered the height of apparatus was five centimetres too short. In the end, only five gymnasts accepted the offer, none of whom made an impact on the final standings.
